New Zealand Man Earns $100,000 For One-Handed Catch

WOOOOWWWWyyyy I wish i was there. Michael Morton wins $100,000 by catching a SIX one handed!

Tui’s promotion – Catch a Million – calls for spectators wearing branded shirts to catch a SIX with one hand for the six-figure payout.

New Zealand vs. West Indies (5th ODI, Hamilton, 2014)

A cricket spectator made himself richer by NZD 100,000 (approximately Rs. 52 lakh or USD 83,000) when he took a one-handed catch during the one-day international between New Zealand and the West Indies in Hamilton.

The catch occurred in the sixth over of the series decider that West Indies went on to win, thus levelling the series 1-1.

Kieran Powell absolutely nailed a length ball from Mitchell McClenaghan in the sixth over the innings. The powerful shot sailed wide of long-on towards the spectator Michael Morton who was sitting on the grass banks.

While other spectators around him ducked for cover, Morton stuck his right hand out. He had still not finished standing up when the ball thudded into his palm. He then celebrated the catch, pumping his arms and accepting the applauses of other spectators.

As part of a sponsorship promotion, brewer Tui pledged to make the payout to any spectator who made a one-handed catch while wearing one of its distinctive orange T-shirts when the ball cleared the boundary.

With the series reaching its fifth and final match, it appeared the prize would go unclaimed, despite some brave failures, including a leaping man who sent boundary advertising hoardings flying in Queenstown last week in his eagerness to cash in.

But Morton finally snared the prize when he latched onto the hit from Powell.

“It’s pretty unbelievable,” he told Sky News. “I was sitting there next to my dad and he yelled out, so I jumped up, put my hand out and somehow it stuck. I’m pretty happy.”

“I was stoked that I caught the catch. It would have been a very long afternoon if I dropped it.”